The Workers Party have
condemned Monday night’s decision by Dublin City Councillors to all but abolish the waiver system on refuse charges
in a vote on the city’s annual Estimates.
Dublin Region Workers
Party spokesman John Dunne said that the imposition of a €94 per annum charge on those already struggling to get by
was only the “tip of the iceberg” and predicted that this would rise dramatically in the near future.
Mr. Dunne said that
the Workers Party is opposed to domestic service charges as a matter of principle because they constitute a form of double
taxation but that the waiver was very important more than 40,000 Dublin city householders on low incomes.
“What is most incredible
about this decision is that the Labour Party and Sinn Féin voted for it. It only
shows how hollow and false their condemnation of the recent budget really is. Labour
and Sinn Féin politicians correctly railed against the recent social welfare cuts but their councillors have effectively voted
to cut Dublin city residents’ social welfare by a further €2 a week through this decision”, said Mr. Dunne.
Referring to Monday’s
High Court decision in favour of private refuse operators, Mr. Dunne said that the court was wrong to simply regard the city
council as another competitor in the refuse collection business. “Unlike private companies out to make a profit, the
council has a statutory responsibility in relation to refuse collection. Monday
night’s council decision only paves the way for further privatisation of the refuse service and for water privatisation
within the next few years, especially since the government has now given the go ahead for water charges in which many of the
same firms have a strong interest”, he said.
